Aircraft under review
Ottawa looking at ‘all potential actions’ as Canada and U.S. face calls to join other countries in grounding Boeing 737 Max 8 planes. Concerns have grown around the world over model’s safety after tragic crash in Ethiopia that claimed 157 lives
OTTAWA— Canada and the United States stand virtually alone in allowing continued operations by the Boeing 737 Max as aviation regulators around the globe grounded the jet after a Sunday crash raised fresh questions about its safety.
Transport Minister Marc Garneau said Tuesday the federal government was considering “all potential actions” but stopped short of the rare step taken by government agencies elsewhere to ban the jet from flying.
Garneau is scheduled to hold a news conference Wednesday in Ottawa to discuss the situation.
Sunwing, one of three Canadian airlines to use the 737 Max, took action late Tuesday night, saying that it was grounding the four planes in its fleet.
WestJet and Air Canada also fly the 737 Max model, an updated version of the twinjet that first flew commercially in 1967. Air Canada operates 24 of the Boeing 737 Max planes, while Calgary’s WestJet has 13.
It is the world’s most popular commercial jet but in the wake of two deadly accidents in less than five months, regulators worry the latest variant may have a dangerous design secret.
Sunday’s crash of an Ethiopian Airlines’ Boeing 737 Max soon after takeoff from Addis Ababa killed 157 passengers and crew, including 18 Canadians.
A Lion Air 737 Max crashed soon after takeoff from Jakarta last October. Preliminary reports suggest the pilots of that aircraft were having flight-control problems.
China was among the first to ground Boeing 737 Max and other nations soon followed. As Tuesday progressed, skies around the world became closed to the aircraft. The United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency all announced they were suspending flights by the updated version of the popular twinjet. There are 387 737 Max aircraft flown by 59 operators worldwide.
“As we do not currently have sufficient information from the flight-data recorder we have, as a precautionary measure, issued instructions to stop any commercial passenger flights from any operator arriving, departing or overflying U.K. airspace,” the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement.
The Irish Aviation Authority also suspended all flights by 737 Max jets through Irish airspace to ensure “the continued safety of passengers and flight crew” in the aftermath of two “unprecented crashes.”
India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation said the jets would be grounded until “appropriate modifications and safety measures are undertaken to ensure their safe operations.”
It’s a drastic step, given the serious economic consequences for airlines and disruptions for passengers. The closure of British airspace forced Air Canada to cancel flights from St. John’s and Halifax to London, England, that were to be operated by Boeing 737 Max aircraft. On Monday, Garnea u declared confidence in the aircraft and said that grounding the aircraft would be “premature” until more is known.
On Tuesday, he cancelled a planned event in Montreal to meet with aviation advisers but said the government had not yet acted because it was trying to get more information.
“We’re working as fast as we can to find out what happened but at the moment there are no clues as to what cause that accident,” said Garneau, who also cancelled a two-day visit to southern Ontario and Toronto that was scheduled to start Wednesday.
“I have been directed by group of experts to be ready for all possibilities, including the decision to ground Max 8s but at this point we have not taken any decision because we want to … try to get as much information as possible,” Garneau said.
The Air Canada Pilots Association on Tuesday called on Garneau to “take proactive action to ensure the safety of the Canadian traveling public” but did not specify exactly what it wanted the government to do. NDP MP Robert Aubin urged Garneau to ground the Boeing 737 Max in Canada until the investigation determines there is no problem with the aircraft.
“Canada must follow the path of other countries and ensure that such a tragedy does not happen again. Canadian travellers should not fear for their safety when flying. This is the government’s responsibility,” Aubin said in a statement.
A review of a Transport Canada database of aviation incidents shows just a few occurrences involving the Boeing 737 Max operated by Canadian carriers. These included a problem with a door sensor, a fuel spill and loss of GPS signal. In one case, an Air Canada flight returned to Montreal citing an unspecified technical problem.
In another case, a Sunwing flight was en route to Toronto when the captain’s flight instruments began to show erroneous indications. The crew descended out of cloud and the first officer — whose instruments were normal — took control. The crew asked air traffic control for priority handling and made a safe landing. The problem was traced to an air data unit, which was replaced.
Reacting to the growing global concern, Boeing said that it has “full confidence” in the safety of the aircraft.
“We understand that regulatory agencies and customers have made decisions that they believe are most appropriate for their home markets,” the aerospace giant said in a statement Tuesday.
It noted that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is not mandating any action and said that based on the information available, it had no guidance to airlines any changes to procedures or maintenance.
Since the Lion Air accident, Boeing has been developing enhancements to the flight control software to address some of the issues arising from the crash. That includes the possibility the pilots were in a tug-of-war with the flight control system because of erroneous data from an air sensor. Boeing expects to roll out the updates by April.
In its own statement, the FAA said that not enough was known yet about the Ethiopian crash to prompt it to take ac- tion. “This investigation has just begun and to date we have not been provided data to draw any conclusions or take any actions,” the agency said.
The cockpit voice and flight data recorders have been recovered from the wreckage of the Ethiopian Airlines flight. Assuming they are not too damaged, that data should provide critical clues about the cause of the accident and with it, some direction for regulators on next steps.
With 10,150 models delivered, the 737 is the world’s most popular commercial aircraft. First introduced as the 737-100 model in 1967, the twinjet has undergone numerous modifications over the years with fuselage stretches to carry more passengers and more powerful engines. The “Max” is latest variant, able to carry up to 178 passengers some 6,500 kilometres.